Educating millennials and Generation Z

One of my students recently asked me: "What is a canceled check? How can I use one in a fraud examination?"

Many college students have never written checks and use digital apps to pay for goods and services. These questions reflect the impact that younger generations will have on fraud examinations and investigations.

Higher education must keep pace with changes in the world, and anti-fraud educators are no exceptions. While much has been written about changing delivery of courses and new ways of learning for millennials and Generation Z, actually altering traditional methods has been a slow process.

Characteristics of millennials and Generation Z

While there's no precise definition of the time span for generations, millennials are considered by many to be those born between 1980 and 2000. Generation Z, which follows the millennials, will be making their entrance into colleges and universities in the near future. A 2012 report from The Council of Economic Advisers highlighted facts about millennials:

According to Deloitte's 2016 Millennial Survey, millennials: